Craig Peter Halkett (born 29 May 1995) is a Scottish footballer who plays as defender for Scottish Premiership club Heart of Midlothian.

Craig Halkett
Personal information
Full name Craig Peter Halkett[1]
Date of birth (1995-05-29) 29 May 1995 (age 29)
Place of birth Kirkintilloch, Scotland[1]
Height 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)
Position(s) Defender
Team information
Current team
Heart of Midlothian
Number 4
Youth career
Rosebank United[2]
2010–2014 Rangers
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2014–2016 Rangers 0 (0)
2014Clyde (loan) 12 (0)
2015Berwick Rangers (loan) 4 (0)
2016–2019 Livingston 117 (16)
2019– Heart of Midlothian 95 (5)
International career
2014 Scotland U19[3] 1 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 23 September 2024 (UTC)

Initially a striker in his youth, Halkett joined Rangers at age 14 before being moved to defensive roles and being loaned out to Scottish League Two clubs Clyde and Berwick Rangers. After being released by Rangers, Halkett spent several years at Livingston, making over 100 appearances, before signing a contract with Heart of Midlothian in 2019.

Club career

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Rangers

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Raised in Kirkintilloch and a boyhood Rangers fan,[4][5][6] Halkett joined the club as a youngster. Initially playing as a striker, he was moved into more defensive roles by youth coach Alan Kernaghan.[5] After winning the Scottish Youth Cup in 2014,[7][5] he was loaned out twice, to Clyde[8] and Berwick Rangers,[9] both playing in the fourth tier.

Livingston

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In January 2016, Halkett was informed by Rangers that there was no immediate prospect of him progressing to the first team and he left the Ibrox club without having made a senior appearance, joining then Scottish Championship side Livingston.[5][10] He scored his first professional goal against Rangers in a 1–0 win for Livingston on 26 April 2016.[11]

The Lions were relegated from the Championship at the end of his first campaign in a play-off, but Halkett became an increasingly important player for the West Lothian side, helping them to immediately return from League One in 2016–17,[12] followed by a second consecutive promotion to the Scottish Premiership after finishing runners-up in the regular season, once more via the play-offs.[13]

Halkett was made club captain, and was an important part of Livingston's 2018–19 season, with the team's defence gaining much praise with the relatively few number of goals conceded compared to similarly-placed teams in the league.[14]

Hearts

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In April 2019, Halkett signed a pre-contract agreement with Hearts.[15] He suffered a knee injury in October 2019, and it was announced he would be out for 10 weeks.[16]

On 11 January 2022, Halkett signed a new two-and-a-half-year contract with Hearts, keeping him at the club until the end of the 2023–24 season.[17]

International career

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Halkett represented Scotland once, at under-19 level in 2014.[3] He received his first call-up to the senior Scotland squad in March 2022.[18]

Career statistics

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As of 23 September 2024
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League Scottish Cup League Cup Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Rangers 2014–15[19] Scottish Championship 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
2015–16[20] Scottish Championship 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Total 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Clyde (loan) 2014–15[21] Scottish League Two 10 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 12 0
Berwick Rangers 2015–16[20] Scottish League Two 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 0
Livingston 2015–16[20] Scottish Championship 15 1 0 0 0 0 2[a] 1 17 2
2016–17[22] Scottish League One 33 1 2 0 4 0 4[b] 0 43 1
2017–18[23] Scottish Championship 35 7 2 0 6 1 6 0 49 8
2018–19[24] Scottish Premiership 34 7 1 0 5 0 0 0 40 7
Total 117 16 5 0 15 1 12 1 149 18
Heart of Midlothian 2019–20[25] Scottish Premiership 23 2 5 1 5 4 0 0 33 7
2020–21[26] Scottish Championship 27 0 0 0 2 1 0 0 29 1
2021–22[27] Scottish Premiership 28 2 4 0 5 0 0 0 37 2
2022–23[28] Scottish Premiership 6 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 8 0
2023–24[29] Scottish Premiership 8 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 10 0
2024–25[30] Scottish Premiership 3 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 4 1
Total 95 5 11 1 13 5 2 0 121 11
Career total 226 21 18 1 28 6 14 1 286 29
  1. ^ Appearances in the Championship play-offs
  2. ^ Appearances in the Scottish Challenge Cup

Honours

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Rangers Academy

Livingston

Heart of Midlothian

Individual

References

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  1. ^ a b Statutory registers - Births - Search results, ScotlandsPeople. Retrieved 21 January 2022
  2. ^ "Game in protest against loss of Waterside pitch as professional footballers lend their support to campaign". Kirkintilloch-herald.co.uk. Retrieved 31 October 2021.
  3. ^ a b "Craig Halkett". Scottish Football Association. Retrieved 3 October 2015.
  4. ^ "Craig Halkett eyes Livi bow against Rangers at Ibrox". Glasgow Times. Retrieved 31 October 2021.
  5. ^ a b c d Gordon Parks (26 January 2019). "Leaving Rangers was like stepping off a cliff but it's the best decision I've ever made insists Craig Halkett". Daily Record. Retrieved 30 January 2019.
  6. ^ "Halkett: I Learned A Lot". Rangers F.C. 18 February 2015.
  7. ^ "Rangers break Hearts in Youth Cup penalty shoot-out win". BBC Sport. 13 March 2014. Retrieved 30 January 2019.
  8. ^ "Ibrox club loans out seven fringe players". BBC. BBC Sport. 2 September 2014.
  9. ^ "Halkett Heads Out On Loan". Rangers Football Club. Rangers F.C. 30 October 2015. Archived from the original on 4 January 2016. Retrieved 1 March 2016.
  10. ^ "Andy Halliday & Jason Holt sign new Ibrox deals". BBC Sport. 13 January 2016.
  11. ^ Chick Young (26 April 2016). "Livingston 1-0 Rangers". BBC Sport.
  12. ^ a b "Livingston 2–1 Alloa Athletic". Livingston F.C. 8 April 2017. Retrieved 8 April 2017.
  13. ^ "Partick Thistle 0 - 1 Livingston (agg 1-3): Hopkin's men seal promotion". The Scotsman. 20 May 2018. Retrieved 30 January 2019.
  14. ^ "Livingston must keep Craig Halkett beyond his current contract". Not The Old Firm. 15 January 2019. Retrieved 25 January 2022.
  15. ^ "Hearts: Livingston's Craig Halkett signs pre-contract to switch on three-year deal". BBC Sport. 1 April 2019. Retrieved 1 April 2019.
  16. ^ "Craig Halkett: Hearts defender to miss 10 weeks with knee injury". 4 October 2019 – via www.bbc.co.uk.
  17. ^ "Halkett signs new deal | Heart Of Midlothian Football Club". www.heartsfc.co.uk. Retrieved 11 January 2022.
  18. ^ "Scotland: Sunderland striker Ross Stewart, Hearts defender Craig Halkett & St Johnstone keeper Zander Clark called up". BBC Sport. BBC. 21 March 2022. Retrieved 21 March 2022.
  19. ^ "Games played by Craig Halkett in 2014/2015". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 10 June 2019.
  20. ^ a b c "Games played by Craig Halkett in 2015/2016". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 11 November 2017.
  21. ^ "Games played by Craig Halkett in 2014/2015". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 11 November 2017.
  22. ^ "Games played by Craig Halkett in 2016/2017". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 11 November 2017.
  23. ^ "Games played by Craig Halkett in 2017/2018". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 11 November 2017.
  24. ^ "Games played by Craig Halkett in 2018/2019". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 10 June 2019.
  25. ^ "Games played by Craig Halkett in 2019/2020". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 26 July 2019.
  26. ^ "Games played by Craig Halkett in 2020/2021". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 16 October 2020.
  27. ^ "Games played by Craig Halkett in 2021/2022". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 26 July 2019.
  28. ^ "Games played by Craig Halkett in 2022/2023". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 26 July 2019.
  29. ^ "Games played by Craig Halkett in 2023/2024". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 26 July 2019.
  30. ^ "Games played by Craig Halkett in 2024/2025". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 26 July 2019.
  31. ^ "Rangers break Hearts in Youth Cup penalty shoot-out win". BBC Sport. 13 May 2004. Retrieved 21 May 2021.
  32. ^ "Craig Halkett makes Hearts future admission as defender recalls most challenging time of his career". Edinburgh Live. 23 April 2021. Retrieved 21 May 2021.
  33. ^ "Celtic 3:3 Hearts". BBC Sport. 20 December 2020. Retrieved 21 May 2021.
  34. ^ "James Forrest, Steve Clarke & Ryan Kent win PFA Scotland annual awards". BBC Sport. 5 May 2019. Retrieved 5 May 2019.
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